The purpose of the Calibration and Monitoring Workshop (WXRCalMon) is to collect and share knowledge of weather radar systems and hands-on experiences with calibration and monitoring. Topics such as: radar calibration, antenna pointing accuracy, monitoring of dual-polarisation parameters, monitoring methods using the sun, are openly discussed between the participants with the aim to recommend best practices and develop calibration and monitoring standards.

The first and second workshops took place in October 2017 and 2019 at DWD headquarters in Offenbach, Germany. The outcomes of these first two workshops are presented in an OPERA report (Frech et al, 2021). National Met Services in Europe are actively using these recommendations to harmonize the quality of data between national radar networks. This 3rd workshop is due to take place at Météo France this year, but because of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, it is still unclear if people will have the possibility to attend in person. An online alternative is already planned and a remote access to the meeting will be possible regardless of the situation. Manufactures are invited to attend with presentations focused on the goals of the workshop. This 3rd workshop will revisit the monitoring techniques used by the participants in the light of the most recent experiences with a focus on hardware monitoring and maintenance, accuracy phase measurements and dual polarisation variables and costs/benefits of solid state transmitters.

Michael Frech, Tiemo Mathijssen, Theo Mammen, Marco Gabella, Marco Boscacci, 2021: Monitoring of weather radars: lessons learned from WXRCalMon17 & WXRCalMon19 and recommendations, OPERA5 OA1 report, March 2021

You can attend the workshop on site in Toulouse or online by videoconference. Posters will be published at this website during the conference. Recorded presentations will be published online after the conference.